THEORETICAL MODELS AND BIOMATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR IDENTIFYING MULTIPLE GASTROINTESTINAL DIPOLES

摘要

The study of the electrical gastric activity (EGA) is of great importance to the diagnosis of various pathological gastrointestinal (GI) conditions in humans. In order to analyze the characteristics of this phenomenon, a three-dimensional visualization of the current sources in the stomach was developed using magnetometer-recorded data of the gastric magnetic field as an input. An algorithm for solving the biomagnetic inverse problem was also developed that makes use of least-squares approximations in order to find the best-fitting current dipole orientations. Dipole locations were determined through the use of a recursive computational algorithm in which the forward biomagnetic model was employed. A theoretical biomathematical model was developed for this and adapted to take into account the anatomical configuration of the stomach and intestine, as well as other a priori criteria of investigation. The accuracy of the model developed was demonstrated using a simulation of magnetic fields in humans. In addition, various types of 3D simulations and visualizations were created in order to show the potential ability of the mathematical and computational tools created to accurately analyze anomalous biomagnetic field patterns.